That long-avoided task was to watch the recent BBC documentary, the Most Hated Family in America. I've posted the first part of that film, the rest can be found at YouTube, and I urge you to go and watch it all.

The Phelps are not only the most hated family in America, they are also the saddest. I've always suspected this, but watching this film brought it all home.

Their children are isolated and constantly indoctrinated. They appear to be loving to each other, but have no real friends outside of their family and church (about 70 folks, almost all family members.) They think they're living in the end time, and the young women of the family probably won't marry. A 21-year-old had to ask her mother for permission to have coffee with the filmmaker and his crew, and Mom said no.